Comforting Creatures

Archie, a small Shih Tzu, is especially popular at hospitals

Archie, a small Shih Tzu, is especially popular at hospitals

January 20, 2006|JOY NOEL LIGHTCAP Tribune Correspondent

David Morgan isn't much of a celebrity at Goshen General Hospital. "They don't know me," he said with a laugh. "I'm just the guy who brings Archie. "Everybody at the hospital knows Archie." Morgan, who lives in Mishawaka, takes Archie, a small Shih Tzu, to the hospital every Wednesday. They travel from room to room, spending time with patients who need a moment of encouragement. They're part of the Comforting Creatures program he helped found as coordinator of Northern Indiana Pet Partners. The program gives local residents and their pets the opportunity to visit hurting and lonely people in hospitals, nursing homes, Hospice homes and schools, among other places. Morgan's belief is that animals can be a source of comfort and healing, in ways that humans can't. As proof, he talks about a woman he and Archie met in Goshen. She had suffered a stroke, and Morgan vividly remembers her "wired up with oxygen and tubes. She was out of it, staring off into space and basically unconscious." But Morgan began talking to the woman as if she were "completely there." He introduced himself and held Archie over his head to put him in the woman's line of vision. Morgan didn't get much response from the patient, but he recalled, "I could see her eyes lock onto (Archie), so I held him up there for the longest time." By their fourth visit, something had changed. The patient was now conscious, but still "kind of out of it," he remembered. As Morgan sat there with Archie, he noticed the woman was opening and closing her fist, so he put Archie next to her hand. The woman was trying to pet him but couldn't move her arm, so she scratched Archie by opening and closing her hand. The next week, Morgan found out the hospital was planning to transfer the patient to a nursing-care facility since her recovery was slow-moving. As Morgan and Archie visited with the woman, she did the same thing, opening and closing her hand to scratch Archie. Only this time, Morgan said, "She wanted to say something, but nothing was coming out." She was obviously trying to talk, so Morgan put his ear to her mouth and heard a barely audible voice pushing out the words, "Good Archie, good Archie." Morgan's interaction with this patient was one that keeps him going back to visit more hurting people. Now in his fourth year visiting patients with Archie, the duo has called upon more than 1,500 patients. According to the Delta Society, a nonprofit organization with which the Northern Indiana Pet Partners is affiliated, research shows that contact with pets can accelerate a person's recovery from surgery, teach such values as empathy and trust, and even prolong life in some situations. Maria Cashore, of South Bend, who helps Morgan coordinate Comforting Creatures volunteers, said it is for those reasons and many more that they are dedicated to "training volunteers and screening pets for participation in animal visiting ... in nursing homes, hospitals and schools." Currently, Comforting Creatures has 12 teams involved in the program, but none in St. Joseph County. Most of the participants live and serve in the Elkhart County area, but Morgan hopes to expand the program to South Bend and the surrounding area to have a total of 50 teams participating. "Between Elkhart County and St. Joseph County, there are so many places where we could help," he said. The Northern Indiana Pet Partners will have an informational meeting at 7 p.m. Tuesday at the St. Joseph County Public Library, 304 S. Main St., South Bend. Anyone interested in getting involved may get information about pet requirements, training and evaluations. A wonderful benefit of this program, according to Morgan, is that "we allow people to try to find a place where they want to go, whether it is at a women's center, homeless shelters, schools or Hospice homes." Participants simply choose the place they would like to visit, and Morgan works with them to get permission. One volunteer team visits New Paris Elementary School and works with children with discipline problems. They have the children help with the dogs, giving them such tasks as teaching tricks and taking them on walks. Morgan said, "It changes the children when they have the responsibility of taking care of the dogs." Volunteers also have taught their dogs to pay attention to open books, so the students can read to the animal. Morgan says that reading to an animal has greatly increased reading comprehension and the love of reading for some of the students. "They get excited about it. The dog stares at the book the whole time, while the human part of the volunteer team helps the student with the reading and pronunciation of the words." Morgan hopes Northern Indiana Pet Partners can expand their participation in St. Joseph County schools so animals are available to help students during times of stress. "Sometimes kids may be reluctant to talk to a person," said Morgan, "but they may whisper secrets to the animal." It takes the right pet and the right person to form a volunteer team, but Morgan and Cashore are open to anyone who is willing and has an animal with the right temperament. "We don't just work with dogs and cats," said Cashore, adding, "Any animal is welcome. Rabbits, guinea pigs, turtles, farm animals and horses." After all, as Morgan said, "God provides all different sorts of vehicles for us to be comforted by or to comfort each other."